Renee Perry
Profile Women of Wisteria Lane beware! Renee Perry has arrived. Lynette Scavo's college roommate and best "frenemy" is a sexy and sophisticated woman who's never afraid to share her opinions. She married a Yankee and ruled Manhattan. Now she's making a big splash in Fairview. What's she doing in town? It's anybody's guess. But, if I were you, I'd lock up your man. Biography Renee is Lynette Scavo's former college friend and sorority sister. Renee is described a housewife who has become disenchanted with her humdrum lifestyle. Early Life Renee was born in 1969. At a young age, Renee's mother killed herself, leaving Renee to be raised by her father. Later, Renee attended college with Lynette Lindquist during the 1980s and they became good friends. After the pair graduated they continued their freindship. However, Renee was involved in a one-night-stand with Tom (Lynette's to-be-husband) after Lynette and Tom had breifly broken up. The couple decide to keep it a secret from Lynette. Renee moves to Manhattan and marries a baseball player, Doug Perry, and lives for many years in the lap of luxury. Season 7 Renee arrives on the Lane to visit Lynette. Renee talks about her life as a rich athlete's wife. She and Lynette banter but it soon turns hurtful with Renée insulting her in front of the other women, telling Lynette she hasn't succeeded in life and has let herself be tied down to a suburban life. The other girls and Tom are stunned when Renee shares how Lynette had a threesome with the stars of the college rugby team. Lynette decides to throw Renee out and tell her off, but Renee confesses that she's getting a divorce. She had discovered Doug was having an affair with his agent's assistant and when Renee said he had to choose, he chose his mistress. Taking pity, Lynette tells Renee she can stay. Lynette assumes Renee will move back to New York but instead, she rents Edie's old house on the Lane in order to make her own stay permanent. It is hinted that Tom and Renee had an affair years ago, a secret Tom insists Lynette can never know. Renee and Bree go out clubbing and Renee ends up going home with Bree's handyman Keith. Bree, feeling jealous, calls Keith that night and tells him she needs him to fix her sprinklers. Renee is furious that Bree stole Keith out of her bed and tells her she'll enjoy taking her down. Renee then learns Bree is a grandmother and uses the fact to her advantage, trying to sabotage Bree's relationship with Keith. Bree gets back at Renee by ruining her date with Keith. Renee eventually realizes that Bree likes Keith more and lets her have him and the two women make peace. Lynette and Renee start a new business in interior design, after a little persuasion from Renee. Renee suggests hiring Susan as Lynette's nanny. Lynette is reluctant, but eventually agrees. Lynette ends up comforting Susan when she feels bad about not being as financially stable as her friends. Mike has taken the job in Alaska, and Susan accepts Lynette's offer to be baby Paige's nanny, even though she originally thought she was being hired to work in Lynette and Renee's new business. She overhears a new client of Lynette and Renee's, and suggests that she ask her daughter for her favorite characters to paint on her wall. The woman likes Susan's idea. Renee gets mad at Susan, while Lynette wonders why her friend is acting strange. Susan eventually reveals that she feels the nanny job is beneath her, and is shamed to be the poor person in her group of friends. Lynette comforts her, saying that money can't change the way she looks in their eyes. Renee decides to have Lynette and her family and Susan and M.J. over for Thanksgiving Dinner, but the kids are not allowed in the house. So they eat out on the driveway because as Renee told Susan, "the cops won't let me put them in the street". Renee reminisces with Tom about how she always picked the wrong men, while Lynette is tracking down Susan. Susan overhears Renee crying and later at dinner, Renee tells her she's still in love with a guy that she had an affair with 20 years ago. Later that night, when Renee is drunk and about to fall asleep, she tells Susan that Tom Scavo is the guy. Susan tells Tom that she knows about the affair and suggest Tom asks Renee to move off the Lane. Renee is furious when she finds out and tells Susan she's not moving. When the riot gets violent Susan is seperated from Renee she does her best to find her. Later she is ontop of a car looking for Susan and yells to Tom after he tells her to get off "I'm looking for Susan. I saw he fall and I think she's hurt!" Later after the rioters leave she finds Susan on the ground and is in shock. Renee eventually tells Lynette about the affair. Apparently, Tom and Lynette had briefly broken up during this time. Lynette decides to forgive Renee and Tom. Renee is next furious that Bob Hunter and Lee McDermott did not hire her as their new interior designer after they announced plans to renovate a room for their adoptive daughter. They decide to give Renee a chance even though she's not maternal and end up being amazed at Renee's design. Renee reveals that she once thought about having children of her own. Renee then decides she wants to adopt a baby, but Lynette plots to stop her. While babysitting Paige, Renee goes on a date and pays the waitress to take care of the baby. Lynette figures it out and points out that Renee is obviously not ready to be a mother. When Beth Young shoots herself, Renee insists on going through with a party despite everyone saying it's in poor taste. Gaby attends the party, which is basically just people who work in the neighborhood and chastises Renee for this. Renee fires back at how selfish Beth was for taking her life and and Gaby realizes that Renee's mother killed herself. In the season finale, Renee finds out that Doug is getting married again. She gets drunk and has a fling with her bartender, but it doesn't last long. Personality Renee shares many characteristics with Edie Britt. Renee is smart, sassy, attractive and, intelligent. A party girl by nature, Renee also has a sensitive side, which she has revealed to Lynette several times. And she'll do anything to get a man. When the character was originally introduced, she is portrayed as a spoilt rich woman, appearing vain and insensitive. Renee ruffles the other women's feathers with her passive-aggressive behavior at first but eventually develops close friendships with her neighbours. Renee is shown to have a lot of hate for children at first but is later shown to have a soft side for kids, even revealing she once dreamt about having children herself. Renee is Lynette's old college friend and when she arrived in Ferview, she and Lynette become close friends again. It is later revealed that Renee slept with Lynette's husband 20 years ago but Lynette forgives Renee and their friendship remains strong. Relationships Doug Perry Renee is currently married to Doug, although they are seperated and getting a divorce. Doug cheated on her. Tom Scavo Renee has a special bond with Tom, which Lynette is jealous of. It has been hinted that Renee and Tom may have had an affair years ago, but it turn's out her and Tom had a one night stand twenty years ago. Keith Watson Renee takes a fancy to Bree's contractor, Keith, while the pair go clubbing one evening. Bree, however, manages to stop Keith from falling for Renee. Renee then tells Bree she will get him before she does. Edgar The bartender that Renee hooked up with during her course of the progressive dinner party thrown in Susan's honor. Edgar was also a model, and the two of them only lasted as a couple through the salad course of the party. Quotations Behind Closed Doors Development Following the eventual cancellation of Vanessa Williams' previous show Ugly Betty, where she starred as series villain Wilhelmina Slater, it was rumoured that there were continuing negotiations between Williams and Marc Cherry concerning whether she would join the cast of Desperate Housewives or not. Reports continued that a new character was to be introduced, filling in Edie's boots, as Wisteria Lane's new vixan and trouble-maker. These rumours proved to be true, and it was quickly announced that Williams would join the show during it's seventh season as Renee Perry, Lynette's college room mate, a vain and shallow New Yorker who has become disenchanted with her humdrum lifestyle. Reception Many fans and critics anticipated Williams' arrival on the show. But when the character finally made her debut appearance in the Season 7 premiere, Remember Paul?, the character and Williams' performance recieved mixed reviews. Entertainment Weekly praised her performance, stating that she brought back a "brand of bitchery" that had been missing from the series since Edie Britt's death in Season 5, and compared the character to Wilhelmina Slater from Ugly Betty. The Star Tribune commented that Williams gave a repeat performance of Wilhelmina. However, Us Weekly gave the character a negative review concluding that it was "rather underwhelming". When the character's multi-arc ongoing storyline involing Tom was revealed, critics began to warm to the character, praising the drama that surrounded her secret. Gallery File:ReneeS7a.jpg File:ReneeS7.jpg ReneeS7New.jpg Renee2.jpg|Renee Screencap desperate_housewives____saison_7_6.jpg Renee8.png Trivia *The character of Renee was added to the show to fill in for Edie's character, who was killed off in Season Five. Fans hated Edie's death, so Marc Cherry added Renee as the "new Edie" and to "stir up some trouble on the Lane". *Originally named Renee Filmore-Jones. *Following the casting announcement, Williams admitted to having been a fan of the series during its first year, but stopped watching because of the racially insensitive second season mystery storyline. It focused on Betty Applewhite (Alfre Woodard), the series' first black main character. Williams explained to Entertainment Weekly, "Betty had her son in chains in the basement. It was like, 'Really? Do we have to go there with our first Black character?' I honestly fell off the show after that. I think it was just so implausible and just an image that Black folks don't want to see their child chained and shackled in the basement." fr:Renée Perry de:Renee Perry Category:Main characters Category:Housewives Category:Females Category:Season 7 characters Category:Adulterers Category:Divorced characters Category:Businesspersons Category:Homeowners Association members Category:Wisteria Lane residents Category:Renee's family Category:Season 8 characters